Daniel Ricciardo Crashed New Red Bull RB14 During Filming Day

As it turns out, Daniel Ricciardo’s recent test of the new Red Bull Racing RB14 didn’t go as smoothly as first reported by the team.

Shortly after publishing the first photos of its 2018 Formula One car, Red Bull let Ricciardo jump into the driver’s seat as part of a filming session. However, the session was cut short after the Australian crashed the car at low speed, damaging the vehicle’s suspension, nose, front wing, and floor.

If such a crash had occurred in the middle of the season, it wouldn’t be much of an issue. However, at such an earlier time in the year, prior to even pre-season testing, teams are usually short on spare parts.

Nevertheless, the team told Motorsport that it will be ready for next week’s pre-season test in Barcelona.

Speaking about his brief run in the new car, Ricciardo said there were many positive signs but failed to mention his run-in with the barriers.

“It’s hard to tell from a couple of laps but the initial feeling in the car is good. I can already feel that the rear feels pretty settled, even in these poor conditions. Those are encouraging early signs,” he said.

Speaking of the controversial halo, Ricciardo said it didn’t impact his visibility.

“So far I can see fine with the halo. I’d only done a couple of installs with it before so it was pretty new today but I really didn’t notice it was there, which is pretty good. Honestly, unless there’s stuff above, I don’t see any issues at all on a flat track.”